Strasbourg, 31.05.2001 - The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly President Lord Russell-Johnston today made the following declaration on Russia and the death penalty:
"The abolition of capital punishment is a key, formal condition for membership of the Council of Europe. It has been since the decision of the Parliamentary Assembly in 1994, two years before Russia acceded to the organisation.
Recent statements made by high-level Russian officials in favour of suspending the moratorium on the executions, in force since August 1996, are therefore highly regrettable. These statements come against the background of serious concerns with regard to Russia's human rights record in Chechnya and its commitment to the freedom of the media. They are a worrying sign of either ignorance of, or blatant disregard for Russia's commitments and obligations as a member state of the Council of Europe.
Russia has yet fully to meet the promise it made before entering, which was to sign, within one year, and to ratify within three years from the time of accession, Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights abolishing the death penalty in the time of peace. This promise was made in a letter sent to the President of the Parliamentary Assembly on 18 January 1995, and signed by the four highest representatives of the Russian state at the time: President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin, Prime Minister Victor Chernomyrdin, the Speaker of the State Duma Ivan Rybkin and the President of the Federation Council Vladimir Shumeiko. Today, more than six years later, the treaty is still not ratified and Russia has yet to honour the word it has given.
Contrary to the belief of those in Russia who are in favour of ending the moratorium, the failure to ratify Protocol No. 6 does not mean that Russia is free to resume executions without serious implications for its status in the organisation. If anything, this failure is an aggravating circumstance, which is further challenging the credibility of Russia's commitment to our organisation's values and principles.
The Council of Europe is a political organisation, and the 1996 decision to
invite Russia to become a member was also a political one. If Moscow decides to
retract, or ignore its key political commitments made at that time - the
commitments which provided the crucial argument to those in favour of Russia's
accession against those who believed that time was not yet ripe - this would
inevitably lead to the questioning of whether Russia is fit to continue as a
member of the Council of Europe. However, I believe that this will not happen
and that the Russian authorities will at the end not only uphold the moratorium,
but also ratify Protocol 6."
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